The Windows Server Backup application that is built in to Windows
Server versions 2008 and later is a little gold mine, and I’ve written about it before, as well as ways to manage it.
Windows Server 2012 continues the Windows Backup application legacy,
which is good news; it’s a great feature and I’m glad they didn’t mess
with it. This feature is particularly useful to restore the computer to a
usable state after a failed application or buggy update installation in
a low-drama fashion.
The reason the built-in Windows Server
Backup application is so valuable is that it does a sophisticated and
reliable job of server backup that is absolutely mission-critical yet is
often seen as adding cost, complexity, or third-party applications into
the solution. My maxim, “all employed network administrators have
current backup” remains true, regardless of the number of ways to
achieve dependable backup.
From virtual machine (VM) snapshots (on
the virtualization or storage platform), to off-site vaulted media
backups, there are layers of cost and complexity that may be necessary
for some data. However, I can think of no easier way to add the job
security benefit of good backup to the network administrator today.
It’s
not unwise to furnish some or all your host and VM resources with
dedicated local storage for Windows Server Backup images, if possible
using alternative disk controllers or spindles used by the computer
being backed up. Using removable storage such as USB 2.0 and 3.0 hard
drives is supported on physical computers. Provision VMs with virtual
hard drives (VHDs) dedicated for backup.
Restore options in Windows Server Backup
If
you have been performing daily backups of your Windows Server 2012
computer, and you decide that you need to roll back an entire server to a
certain date—ideally you need an application-consistent, point-in-time,
complete disk image to restore from. If you select the Recover action
from the Actions Pane within the Windows Server Backup application, and
then select the date and time of the desired backup to restore from, you
have the option to view what items are recoverable in that backup. Figure A shows what’s available for recovery on a Windows Server 2012 computer running Exchange Server 2013.
Figure A
Viewing the recoverable items in a Windows Server 2012 restore operation to verify what was backed up.
If
you just want to restore files and folders, or applications like
Exchange, you can proceed to complete the restore operations from within
the Windows Server Backup application. However, if your intention is to
really recover the entire computer, you will receive a notice like that
shown in Figure B. Basically you are prompted to boot the computer from the Windows Setup disk.
Figure B
Selecting the Recovery Type when you need to restore files and folders or applications.
System recovery from the Windows Setup disk
If
the computer is a virtual machine (VM), provided with two virtual hard
disks (VHDs), one for the computer and one for the backup, the system
restore operation is pretty simple. To begin the restore, connect a
Windows Server 2012 setup DVD or .ISO file image to the VM, start the VM
and Press any key to boot from CD or DVD. If the backup is on a
different medium than a VHD, or it’s a physical computer involved, make
sure that storage media is available to the computer that will boot the
setup DVD.
The first Windows Setup screen will prompt you for your
language, country, and keyboard type. After clicking Next, instead of
clicking the install button, select the Repair your computer option in the lower left of the screen as indicated in Figure C.
Figure C
Select the Repair your computer option to access the system restore feature.
At the next screen seen in Figure D, take care to select the Troubleshoot button.
Figure D
The Troubleshoot button is what you want to proceed with system restore.
Finally, clicking on System Image Recovery in the Advanced options page as shown in Figure E will start the Windows Server Backup application in restore mode.
Figure E
System Image Recovery is your path to re-image the computer to a previous point in time.
After
selecting System Image Recovery from the Advanced options page,
attached storage to the VM or physical computer is searched for
recoverable backup media image(s). Assuming your backup media is
attached and discovered, confirm the target operating system as seen in Figure F.
Figure F
Confirming the target operating system to be restored.
The
Reimage your computer wizard will launch. Follow these steps to restore
the system image to a specific past date. Everything on the computer
will be replaced with the information in the system image.
Check the Select a system image option and click Next.
Select
the system image to restore from. If you don’t see the image available,
the Advanced button will let you add drivers to support other removable
or fixed media where the backup might be located.
At the Select the date and time of system image to restore page, scroll to locate the desired image and click Next. Figure G shows an image from a month ago (6/22/2013) being selected.
If you have no problems with the disk format or partition, you can click Next at the Choose additional restore options page.
Click Finish and then Yes at the final Re-image your Computer confirmation. The restore process will begin and could take from a few minutes to a few hours.
Considerations for restored images
After
the server is successfully restored, optionally disconnect the Windows
Server 2012 installation media and restart the restored computer. Some
considerations about restored system images:
Use the most
recent successful backup, unless you know you need to select a
historical point in time. The older the restored system image, the
higher the chances the computer account password in AD will have changed
from the one in the image, and you may have domain re-join issues that
are difficult or impossible to resolve.
If you restore an
older system image, shares may need to be manually re-created for
folders that were shared after the date of the restored image.
Restoring system images of AD domain controllers (DCs) requires careful attention and especially in a domain with more than one DC.
A dynamic disk can contain an unlimited number of volumes that function much like primary partitions on a basic disk, but you cannot mark an existing dynamic disk as active. When you create a volume on a dynamic disk using the Disk Management snap-in in Windows Server 2012, you choose from the following five volume types: Simple Volume:
Simple volume Consists of space from a single disk. After you have created a simple volume, you can extend it to multiple disks to create a spanned or striped volume, as long as it is not a system volume or boot volume. You can also extend a simple volume into any adjacent unallocated space on the same disk or, with some limitations, shrink the volume by deallocating any unused space in the volume. Spanned Volume: Spanned volume Consists of space from 2 to 32 physical disks, all of which must be dynamic disks. A spanned volume is essentially a method for combining the space from multiple dynamic disks into a single large volume. Windows Server 2012 writes to the spanned volume by filling all of the space on the first disk and then fills each of the additional disks in turn. You can extend a spanned volume at any time by adding disk space. Creating a spanned volume does not increase the disk’s read/write performance, nor does it provide fault tolerance. In fact, if a single physical disk in the spanned volume fails, all of the data in the entire volume is lost. Striped Volume: Striped volume Consists of space from 2 to 32 physical disks, all of which must be dynamic disks. The difference between a striped volume and a spanned volume is that in a striped volume, the system writes data one stripe at a time to each successive disk in the volume. Striping provides improved performance because each disk drive in the array has time to seek the location of its next stripe while the other drives are writing. Striped volumes do not provide fault tolerance, however, and you cannot extend them after creation. If a single physical disk in the striped volume fails, all of the data in the entire volume is lost. Mirrored Volume: Mirrored volume Consists of an identical amount of space on two physical disks, both of which must be dynamic disks. The system performs all read and write operations on both disks simultaneously, so they contain duplicate copies of all data stored on the volume. If one of the disks fails, the other continues to provide access to the volume until the failed disk is repaired or replaced. RAID-5 Volume: RAID-5 volume Consists of space on three or more physical disks, all of which must be dynamic. The system stripes data and parity information across all of the disks so that if one physical disk fails, the missing data can be re-created using the parity information on the other disks. RAID-5 volumes provide improved read performance, because of the disk striping, but write performance suffers, due to the need for parity calculations.
You’re no longer limited to the handful of colors Windows 8 supported
for the Start screen. As shown in Figure 1, you can select almost any
color you want by opening the Settings charm and then selecting
Personalize. You can also select your own desktop wallpaper, though you
can’t select a different image as your wallpaper. Figure 1 You can now select custom colors for the Start screen.
Windows
8.1 also makes your Start screen more dynamic by using motion accents.
Basically, graphics move with your Start screen, providing an
interesting, almost three-dimensional effect. Watch the video at the
link provided at the beginning of this section to see motion accents in
action.
As Figure 6-10 illustrates, the TCP/IP protocol networking stack on the Microsoft Windows platform is implemented using a dual IP layer approach. This means for example that ■Only a single implementation of transport layer protocols such as Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is needed for both IPv4 and IPv6 communications. ■Only a single implementation of framing layer protocols—such as Ethernet (802.3), Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP), and mobile broadband (802.11)—is needed for both IPv4 and IPv6 communications. This dual IP layer TCP/IP stack is implemented on the following Windows platforms:
■Windows 8 ■Windows 7 ■Windows Vista ■Windows Server 2012 ■Windows Server 2008 R2 ■Windows Server 2008
Two of these cmdlets are new, and they both relate to virtual machine eventing, a minor new feature in Windows Server 2012 that is not well documented at the time of this writing. According to Get-Help and Windows PowerShell documentation at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh848462, “[v]irtual machine eventing keeps Hyper-V PowerShell objects updated without polling the virtual machine host.” You should be aware that it is enabled by default, and you can use the cmdlets Enable-VMEventing and Disable-VMEventing to reenable and disable the feature, respectively. Use Table 5-1 to review some of the important Windows PowerShell cmdlets and other commands that relate to server monitoring. (More cmdlets are available to manage events. For a full list, type get-command *event* | sort noun,verb at a Windows PowerShell prompt.)
TABLE 5-1 Common command-line tools for server monitoring:
CMDLET OR COMMAND-LINE UTILITY DESCRIPTION Export-Counter Exports data that is returned by the and Import-Counter cmdlets Get-Counter Gets performance counter data from local and
remote computers Import-Counter Imports performance counter log files (.blg, .csv, .tsv) and
creates the objects that represent each counter sample in
the log Get-Event Gets events in the Windows PowerShell event queue for the
current session New-Event Creates a new custom event Clear-EventLog Deletes all entries from specified event logs on the local or
remote computers Get-EventLog Manages event logs and displays events contained within
those event logs Enable-VMEventing Enables virtual machine eventing Disable-VMEventing Disables virtual machine eventing Logman.exe Manages and schedules performance counter and
event trace log collections on local and remote systems
Installing the Active Directory Domain Services role:
Although it does not actually convert the computer into a domain controller, installing the Active Directory Domain Services role prepares the computer for the conversion process.
To install the role, use the following procedure.
1. Log on to the server running Windows Server 2012 using an account with Administrative privileges. The Server Manager window opens.
2. From the Manage menu, select Add Roles And Features. The Add Roles and Features Wizard starts, displaying the Before You Begin page.
3. Click Next. The Select Installation Type page appears.
4. Leave the Role-Based Or Feature-Based Installation option selected and click Next to open the Select Destination Server page.
5. Select the server that you want to promote to a domain controller, and click Next. The Select Server Roles page opens.
6. Select the Active Directory Domain Service role. The Add Features That Are Required For Active Directory Domain Services dialog box opens.
7. Click Add Features to accept the dependencies, and then click Next. The Select Features page opens.
8. Click Next. The Active Directory Domain Services page opens, displaying information about the role.
9. Click Next. A Confirm Installation Selections page appears.
10. Select from the following optional functions, if desired:
Restart The Destination Server Automatically If Desired Causes the server to restart automatically when the installation is completed, if the selected roles and features require it
Export Configuration Settings Creates an XML script documenting the procedures performed by the wizard, which you can use to install the same configuration on another server using Windows PowerShell
Specify An Alternate Source Path Specifies the location of an image file containing the software needed to install the selected roles and features
11. Click Install, which displays the Installation Progress page. Once the role has been installed, a Promote This Server To A Domain Controller link appears.
12. Leave the wizard open.
Install Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) on a member server that runs Windows Server 2008 or Windows Server 2008 R2 by using the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe). The member server should be located in the forest root domain. After you install AD DS successfully, the member server will become a domain controller. You can install AD DS on any member server that meets the domain controller hardware requirements.
You can install AD DS using the Windows user interface (UI). The Windows UI provides two wizards that guide you through the installation process for AD DS. One wizard is the Add Roles Wizard, which you can access in Server Manager. The other wizard is the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (Dcpromo.exe), which you can access in either of the following ways:
·When you complete the steps in the Add Roles Wizard, click the link to start the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard.
·Click Start, click Run, type dcpromo.exe, and then click OK.
Membership in the local Administrator account, or equivalent, is the minimum required to complete this procedure. Review details about using the appropriate accounts and group memberships at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=83477.
Depending on the operating system installation options that you selected for the computer, the local Administrator password might be blank or it might not be required. In this case, run the following command at a command prompt before you start to install AD DS:
net user Administrator password/passwordreq:yes
Replace password with a strong password.
To install AD DS on a member server by using the Windows interface
1.Click Start, and then click Server Manager.
2.In Roles Summary, click Add Roles.
3.If necessary, review the information on the Before You Begin page, and then click Next.
4.On the Select Server Roles page, select the Active Directory Domain Services check box, and then click Next.
5.If necessary, review the information on the Active Directory Domain Services page, and then click Next.
6.On the Confirm Installation Selections page, click Install.
7.On the Installation Results page, click Close this wizard and launch the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard (dcpromo.exe).
8.On the Welcome to the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard page, click Next.
If you want to install from media, identify the source domain controller for AD DS replication, or specify the Password Replication Policy (PRP) for an RODC as part of the installation of the additional domain controller, click Use advanced mode installation.
9.On the Operating System Compatibility page, review the warning about the default security settings for Windows Server 2008 domain controllers, and then click Next.
10.On the Choose a Deployment Configuration page, click Existing forest, click Add a domain controller to an existing domain, and then click Next.
11.On the Network Credentials page, type the name of any existing domain in the forest where you plan to install the additional domain controller. Under Specify the account credentials to use to perform the installation, click My current logged on credentials or click Alternate credentials, and then click Set. In the Windows Security dialog box, provide the user name and password for an account that can install the additional domain controller. To install an additional domain controller, you must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group or the Domain Admins group. When you are finished providing credentials, click Next.
12.On the Select a Domain page, select the domain of the new domain controller, and then click Next.
13.On the Select a Site page, select a site from the list or select the option to install the domain controller in the site that corresponds to its IP address, and then click Next.
14.On the Additional Domain Controller Options page, make the following selections, and then click Next:
·DNS server: This option is selected by default so that your domain controller can function as a DNS server. If you do not want the domain controller to be a DNS server, clear this option.
Note
If you select the option to install DNS server, you might receive a message that indicates that a DNS delegation for the DNS server could not be created and that you should manually create a DNS delegation to the DNS server to ensure reliable name resolution. If you are installing an additional domain controller in either the forest root domain or a tree root domain, you do not have to create the DNS delegation. In this case, click Yes and disregard the message.
·Global Catalog: This option is selected by default. It adds the global catalog, read-only directory partitions to the domain controller, and it enables global catalog search functionality.
·Read-only domain controller. This option is not selected by default. It makes the additional domain controller read only.
15.If you selected Use advanced mode installation on the Welcome page, the Install from Media page appears. You can provide the location of installation media to be used to create the domain controller and configure AD DS, or you can have all the replication done over the network. Note that some data will be replicated over the network even if you install from media. For information about using this method to install the domain controller, see Installing AD DS From Media.
16.If you selected Use advanced mode installation on the Welcome page, the Source Domain Controller page appears. Click Let the wizard choose an appropriate domain controller or click Use this specific domain controller to specify a domain controller that you want to provide as a source for replication to create the new domain controller, and then click Next. If you do not choose to install from media, all data will be replicated from this source domain controller.
17.On the Location for Database, Log Files, and SYSVOL page, type or browse to the volume and folder locations for the database file, the directory service log files, and the system volume (SYSVOL) files, and then click Next.
Windows Server Backup backs up the directory service by volume. For backup and recovery efficiency, store these files on separate volumes that do not contain applications or other nondirectory files.
18.On the Directory Services Restore Mode Administrator Password page, type and confirm the restore mode password, and then click Next. This password must be used to start AD DS in Directory Service Restore Mode (DSRM) for tasks that must be performed offline.
19.On the Summary page, review your selections. Click Back to change any selections, if necessary.
To save the settings that you have selected to an answer file that you can use to automate subsequent Active Directory operations, click Export settings. Type the name for your answer file, and then click Save.
When you are sure that your selections are accurate, click Next to install AD DS.
20.On the Completing the Active Directory Domain Services Installation Wizard page, click Finish.
21.You can either select the Reboot on completion check box to have the server restart automatically or you can restart the server to complete the AD DS installation when you are prompted to do so.
Domain Name System (DNS) is a system for naming computers and network services that maps those names to network addresses and organizes them into a hierarchy of domains. DNS naming is used on TCP/IP networks, such as the Internet and most corporate networks, to locate computers and services by using user-friendly names. When a user enters the DNS name of a computer in an application, DNS can look up the name and provide other information that is associated with the computer, such as its IP address or services that it provides for the network. This process is called name resolution.
Name systems, such as DNS, make it easier to use network resources by providing users with a way to refer to a computer or service by a name that is easy to remember. DNS looks up that name and provides the numeric address that operating systems and applications require to identify the computer on a network. For example, users enter www.microsoft.com instead of the numeric IP address of the server to identify a Microsoft Web server on the Internet. The name is resolved when the DNS client software on the user's computer sends a request to a DNS server that the user's computer is configured to use. If the DNS server has been configured to respond authoritatively with the address of the requested host, it replies to the request directly. Otherwise, the DNS server passes the request on to another server that can provide the address or a referral to another DNS server that can help provide the address. This is where the name hierarchy comes into play: If a DNS server does not know which server is configured with the address, it can request the server that is responsible for maintaining addresses of servers at each level in the hierarchy until it locates the authoritative server. For example, if the DNS server does not know which server is responsible for the server named www.microsoft.com, the DNS server can ask the server that is responsible for supplying the names of DNS servers in the .com domain to provide the address of the server that is responsible for providing the addresses of DNS servers in the microsoft.com domain. The original DNS server can then query that server for the address of the computer named www.microsoft.com.
DNS requires little ongoing maintenance for small businesses, which typically have one to four DNS servers. (Medium-size organizations usually have 4 to 14 DNS servers.) DNS problems, however, can affect server availability for your entire network. Most DNS problems occur because DNS settings are configured incorrectly or obsolete records remain on the DNS servers. By following the procedures in this guide, you can avoid such problems when you deploy DNS in a simple network that is based on the Windows Server® 2008 operating system.
This guide explains how to install and configure a basic DNS implementation in a network that consists of a single, new Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS) domain. The guide then addresses some advanced issues that medium-size organizations may have to consider. Finally, it includes some basic DNS troubleshooting steps that you can take if you suspect that your environment has problems with DNS.
The Cisco® Fax Server is an easy-to-use, easy-to-manage fax and e-document delivery solution that helps enterprises integrate voice, fax, data, and desktop applications for powerful IP Communications. Companies using the Cisco Fax Server can efficiently and securely send and receive documents through fax, e-mail, print devices, or the Internet. The Cisco Fax Server increases employee productivity by automating fax delivery of user-created documents; reduces costs by eliminating manual faxing, paper, phone lines, and fax machines; and improves customer service by providing secure, confirmed, and immediate document delivery.
The Cisco Fax Server allows organizations to reduce costs, save time, and improve productivity by enabling users to send, receive, and manage documents directly from desktop, e-mail, and other business applications. Based on the Captaris RightFax Enterprise Suite from OpenText, the Cisco Fax Server can be coupled with enterprise messaging applications such as Cisco Unity® and Cisco Unity Connection software to create a powerful unified messaging solution. When used with Cisco Unity or Cisco Unity Connection voice messaging solutions, the Cisco Fax Server further increases worker productivity by allowing users to view, create, and manage all voicemail, email and fax communications from a single inbox that can be accessed from PCs, telephones, and mobile devices.
Creating and Deploying Active Directory Rights Management Services Templates Step-by-Step Guide.doc
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Setup works in several stages. You will be prompted for some basic information, then Setup will copy files and restart the computer. Setup concludes by presenting a menu for Initial Configuration Tasks, which you can use to adjust the server configuration for your specific needs.
When building your website and getting it hosted online, you want your site to be up and running on the World Wide Web 24/7 without any hitches so that it is making you money all the time and all you have to worry about then is getting visitors to your site, doing seo, getting repeat visitors, maximizing your sites revenue, etc. You don’t want to have to worry about your web hosting and it’s stability.
So, when choosing a web hosting provider to host your website with, you want to try and get the best web hosting provider so that your site is always up and running smoothly on the World Wide Web.
So what makes a good Web Hosting Provider?
There are many things that make up a good web-hosting provider. Some of these include good support, good uptime, good backup system in place, good hardware, offers loads of web hosting features including email features, scripting features and more.
So where can some good Web Hosting Providers be found?
There are many places across the web where you can find some of these good web-hosting providers. A good place to start is probably using a web-hosting directory as you can easily compare these web-hosting providers against what other providers are offering that’s listed within any individual web-hosting directory. For example, with http://www.1hostseeking.com you can easily find and compare a large amount of some of the top and most reliable web-hosting providers online. You can easily compare each web host against each other so that you can easily see what they offer for the amount of money that they charge.
When choosing a web host it is also best to choose one that offers free set-up and also a money back guarantee. This is because if you find that they don’t quite offer what you need for your website, then you can easily get your money back and choose another web hosting provider.
Even if you found some web hosting providers from a web hosting directory like http://www.1hostseeking.com that offer the features that you need for your website, but you still would like further information about the quality of their service, then you could also go to a web hosting related forum and ask others about what they think about these web hosting providers that you have chosen.
After you have done all this, you should then have a good idea or a better idea of which web hosting provider you are most likely to choose to host your website.
One size does not fit all -- Beyond the ‘talk’ of data center convergence, true scale and intelligence is now available with a slew of new technologies. Anne reviewed her ‘tasty bits’ worthy of focus as Richard Rose knocked it out of the part with his double dose of smooth talkin’ and dressin’
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